Milia being targeted by Vanigo was not an accident.
From the very beginning, the Blacksmith Master had noticed this rather conspicuous figure among the rebellious soldiers and had decided to take his head.
As long as this person was taken down, this rebellious army would surely collapse, and Vanigo did not want to be delayed too long by these people; heading to Red City was the most important task.
Therefore, relying on his thick armor, he went straight to this person, and along the way, some people inevitably tried to block his path, but unfortunately, the Merya were like wild boars charging across a battlefield, no matter what kind of enemy was in front of them, they could not stop his advance.
The Blacksmith Master wore a scale armor over his clothes, its scales gleaming under the firelight, and its weave was incredibly fine; underneath, he wore a finely crafted chainmail, and beneath the chainmail was a padded armor, protecting his body to the greatest extent.
The swords and knives that struck the Blacksmith Master could at most break through his first layer of defense, which was already the limit, and then the Blacksmith Master's axe would cleave down.
The moment he saw the Merya, a sense of fear arose in Milia's heart, because the aura around Vanigo was too malevolent; that battle-hardened demeanor was too strong; he had seen many such people in the Druzhina, but none were as terrifying as the current Vanigo, who was bathed in blood.
Subconsciously, Milia wanted to run, but in the end, he did not, because if he ran, this place would surely collapse completely, and if they collapsed, the fate of the troops still fighting fiercely in Red City would naturally be self-evident.
Vanigo said nothing more; he simply raised his axe and brought it down with a wide, open swing, which undoubtedly left the Blacksmith Master's center wide open, but to him, it didn't matter at all; his armor was enough to block any attack.
Milia quickly raised his shield to meet the blow, then he heard the sound of the shield shattering, and many wood splinters flew onto his face, but none of this made Milia unhappy; on the contrary, he was excited, because his shield had withstood this blow instead of being directly chopped to pieces.
Milia's shield was custom-made for him, using the highest quality oak, and its edges were wrapped in a layer of iron, with many iron studs embedded in the shield to increase its defense.
It was precisely because of this that his shield was not destroyed instantly, saving its owner's life.
The rebellious centurion had seen many such examples; in front of those armored monsters, the brothers' shields and armor seemed to not exist, and they fell continuously as if being slaughtered.
Vanigo was quite surprised by this; he had originally planned to finish this person with one blow, but his shield had withstood the impact.
However, the Blacksmith Master also had a counter-method; his long axe was already stuck in the shield, and then he pulled downwards with force, tearing the shield directly from the rebellious centurion's hand, like tearing off a piece of rag.
This is the most common tactic for long axe wielders to break through a shield wall: first hook the opponent's shield with the axe blade, then violently pull the shield down, and then follow up with an attack.
Although Vanigo was only a Blacksmith by origin, and had some war experience, that was at best just random brawling; but after becoming a Blacksmith Master, Vanigo immediately learned from true warriors, allowing him to master many experiences summarized and passed down from the battlefield.
What Vanigo was doing now was precisely this: after using the leverage to throw off the shield, he used the butt of his axe to strike the unsuspecting Milia in the stomach.
This blow clearly left him quite shaken; Milia clutched his stomach and slowly retreated, while Vanigo showed no hesitation; he once again raised his axe high above his head and brought it down on Milia.
If this move hit its target, then Milia, the traitor, would surely die here; his head would be split open, just like the countless heads Vanigo had split open before.
But Milia was suddenly pushed away by someone, though the axe blade did not miss its mark; it was like a wolf's bite, severing Milia's entire left arm.
The immense pain directly caused Milia to faint, and the gushing blood looked so terrifying that it couldn't help but make everyone who witnessed the scene feel a little afraid.
However, the soldiers who saved the centurion did not hesitate; they immediately carried Milia and kept running backward, and two brave men stepped forward to fight him, though the heads of these two soon flew off.
What surprised Vanigo was that while those soldiers were carrying their officer and fleeing, they were still shouting for the rebellious soldiers to follow them.
And these rebellious soldiers did indeed obey orders; all who could hear them dropped their weapons and fled, which also caused many deaths, as the most deaths always occurred during flight.
This surprised the Merya, but he quickly put the matter behind him and called out to those attempting to pursue.
Although letting these militarily skilled people escape was dangerous, at this moment they were not important; what was important now was to deal with the pagans besieging Red City.
Moreover, it was hard to say how many of those people could escape, because as these pagans collapsed, more armed citizens rushed out of their houses, and many of them were on the escape routes of these routed soldiers, and they would not hesitate to intercept these rebellious soldiers.
Battles were intensifying throughout Moscow; as the sounds of fierce fighting grew louder, armed militias from all over rushed out of their homes, and then they discovered that those pagans were not as terrifying as they seemed, and there weren't that many of them either.
Fighting was happening all over Moscow, and people were dying everywhere, but the scales of victory were increasingly tipping towards the Christians; their victory could be said to be at hand, and the defeat of the pagans had become inevitable.
"People of the Carpenters Guild, hold this position! The rest of you, follow me into Red City! Let us save the Prince's wife and son! Glory and wealth are within reach!"
The Blacksmith Master shook himself, shaking off some blood, then he raised his axe high to guide everyone forward; now, the important thing was to rescue everyone inside Red City!
And his response was a cheer; everyone had witnessed Vanigo's heroic posture just now, and it was precisely because he killed the enemy leader that these seemingly troublesome enemies retreated.
Then he charged forward without hesitation, the blood on his axe blade gleaming under the firelight, as if the axe blade had been coated with an unknown mineral, making him appear even more ferocious.
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